CUARTERO, Capiz, (PNA) -– The newly elected officers of the Vice Mayor’s League of the Philippines (VMLP)-Capiz Chapter who were not recognized by the Liberal Party (LP) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), will be having a special election on October 4 in Bacolod City.
Cuartero Vice Mayor Roger Flores said that VMLP national president and Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno will call for the special election.
Flores said that Moreno has an assurance that Mambusao Vice Mayor Jose Alba Jr. can participate in the election despite being also acting mayor of his municipality.
“We already have an assurance from Moreno that Vice Mayor Alba can participate in the special election,” Flores said.
Earlier, DILG Provincial Director Clyne Deocampo postponed the election but majority of the vice mayors held the polls last August 14.
Deocampo clarified that she elevated the problem to the DILG central office for resolution after Pontevedra Vice Mayor Nelson Oquendo Jr. questioned Alba’s status. Oquendo said Alba should not vote and should not be nominated to any position because he was also present and he even participated in the elections of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines – Capiz Chapter last month.
Roxas City Vice Mayor Ronnie Dadivas, VMLP interim president, said the election held last August 14 was null and void because it was held not in accordance with the procedure and guidance of the DILG.
Dadivas, together with seven other vice mayors under LP, said they will not recognize the elections until the issue on what he claimed as dual representation of Alba, who is also the town’s acting mayor since Mayor-elect Leodegario Labao Jr. refused to surface and face the slay case charged against him, is settled.
But the nine vice mayors under the National Unity Party (NUP) held the elections last August despite the DILG’s ruling with Flores then elected president.